Government Pensions Over-Tax Macomb & Canton Taxpayers

View as PDF Canton, IL—Taxpayers United of America (TUA) today released the results of their study of the government pensions for Macomb, Canton, McDonough and Fulton Counties, Western Illinois University, Spoon River College, and local government schools.
“75% of the areas’ local government retirees are getting annual pension payments of more than $50,000!” said Jim Tobin, founder and president of TUA. “97% of these retirees collect annual pensions far in excess of the area’s per capita income of about $18,500. The average annual pension for these government retirees is about $63,672 and their average personal investment in their own gold-plated pension is a mere 5.5%.”
“All of this largesse is stolen from a constituency whose standard of living is far below the ‘civil servants’ they must support. In Macomb, 34% of the population lives below the poverty level with the per capita income of $17,636 and a median home value of $96,800. In Canton, 17.2% of the population lives below the poverty level with their per capita income at $19,893 and a median home value of only $82,700.”
The average Social Security “pension” was $16,080 in 2015. The maximum Social Security “pension” is about $28,000 and you would have to have earned more than $100,000 a year to realize that amount.
“The government bureaucrats of both Fulton and McDonough Counties continue to abuse the taxpayers who struggle to meet their own basic needs. Fulton County taxpayers recently defeated a referendum to impose a 1% sales tax to help fund the schools’ facilities. But the Canton City Council appears to be completely tone-deaf. They recently voted to increase local property taxes by 15%!”
“Perhaps if the voters in McDonough County had seen what the government bureaucrats made in retirement, they wouldn’t have been so willing to support the referendum that was sold to them for road repairs. At what point do these hacks cut spending rather than automatically go to the taxpayers to fund their recklessness?”
“But let’s not forget who started this Ponzi-scheme in the first place: Chicago Machine Boss Madigan has been the primary driver of the pension cabal in Illinois. The $111 billion in unfunded pension liabilities is largely due to his cronyism with unions, as demonstrated by his decades-long support of the government pension system which he was instrumental in codifying into law,” said Tobin.

“The government pensions are unsustainable. Illinoisans are enduring cuts to services, the defunding of programs, and having their earnings confiscated. Tax dollars continue to be diverted from services required by today’s taxpayers into the pension funds for government employees, whose services were rendered long ago,” said Tobin. “Unfortunately, with Illinois having entered its seventh month without a budget and an enduring financial crisis, taxpayers regretfully see no relief in sight from Springfield.”
“Local governments are continuously seeking to raise property taxes but never tell taxpayers that nearly 80% of local taxes go to fund salaries and benefits of government employees.”
“Retired WIU government employee, Alvin Goldfarb enjoys an annual taxpayer funded pension of $187,541. Over a normal lifetime, he will get about $6 million in pension payments. His personal investment in this rich payout is about 5.3% or $321,260.”
“Francis A. Kranovich retired from the Macomb CUSD 185 government schools with a current annual pension of $149,363. That will accumulate to about $4.3 million with a personal contribution of only $233,240, or 5.5% of a stunning multi-million dollar retirement payout!”
“Danny W. Brown retired from the Macomb municipal government, with a comfortable annual pension of $61,969. Retiring at the ripe old age of 56, he will receive about $2 million in lifetime pension payments. His personal investment in his own retirement? About 3% or $55,495 – less than his current annual pension!”
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